[10/09/12]
Posted on October 9, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was mandated to submit a report to Congress evaluating the Nationwide Program for National and State Background Checks on Direct Patient Access Employees of Long Term Care Facilities and Providers (commonly referred to as the “Background... READ MORE
Tags: abuse, aide, background, bufford, cms, fbi, grant, Home Health, Hospice, jent, Litigation and Risk Management, long term care, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, neglect, nurse, oig, selby, state
[10/05/12]
Posted on October 5, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has published their annual Work Plan for 2013. The Work Plan continues to identify compliance risk areas that subject Medicare and Medicaid providers to audit and enforcement initiatives. The Work Plan specifically targets skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), hospices, and home health agencies (HHAs). For all types of... READ MORE
Tags: adverse event, agency, aide, bufford, care, certification, citations, convictions, criminal, f-2-f, f2f, face, general, hha, Home Health, home heatlh, Hospice, inpatient, jent, long term care, MAC, marketing, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, nf, nursing facility, nursing home, oig, oversight, pps, quality, records, selby, snf, special focus, SSF, state, survey, to, work plan
[08/14/12]
Posted on August 14, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Selby, Todd J.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented changes to Internet-based PECOS to allow providers easier access to information. The following enhancements are now available: READ MORE
Tags: 855, bufford, cms, enrollment, Home Health, Hospice, jent, long term care, medicaid, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, Medicare, pecos, provider, selby
[08/09/12]
Posted on August 9, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
The 2% across-the-board cut in reimbursement for Medicare providers, the result of last summer’s “Super Committee” failure, is scheduled to take place January 1, 2013. The President recently signed legislation requiring a report detailing how the sequestration process will affect Medicare providers. Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have already seen significant cuts to reimbursement; an... READ MORE
Tags: 2%, across the board, bufford, cms, cuts, jent, long term care, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, Medicare, payment, president, reimbursement, selby, sequestration, snf
[08/03/12]
Posted on August 3, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
As part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ongoing program to reduce the rate of anti-psychotic use in nursing facilities, the recent changes to the Nursing Home Compare (NHC) website included reports of the usage rates of anti-psychotics in a facility’s score. However, there is a discrepancy between the methodologies utilized... READ MORE
Tags: antipsychotic, bufford, cms, five star, jent, long term care, mds 3.0, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, nhc, nursing home compare, selby
[08/02/12]
Posted on August 2, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
Need a quick reference to find specific contacts at Medicare organizations that service your state? The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published an interactive Provider Compliance Group Map. Should you have any questions, please contact: Todd Selby at 317.977.1440 or tselby@wp.hallrender.com; Brian Jent at 317.977.1402 or bjent@wp.hallrender.com; or David Bufford at 502.568.9368 or dbufford@wp.hallrender.com, or your regular... READ MORE
Tags: bufford, cms, compliance, Home Health, Hospice, jent, long term care, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, provider, selby
[08/02/12]
Posted on August 2, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
The Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care (AQNHC) released the results of a study conducted concerning the future of skilled nursing facility (SNF) reimbursement. While SNF providers have recently seen their reimbursement rates improve, the study report projects SNF providers are facing $65 billion in reimbursement cuts over the next ten years. The reimbursement... READ MORE
Tags: ACA, bufford, cms, cuts, jent, Litigation and Risk Management, long term care, medicaid, Medicaid/Medicare Enrollment and Regulatory Compliance, Medicare, reimbursement, selby, sequestration, snf, staffing
[07/16/12]
Posted on July 16, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
Since 2005, a group of associations, such as LeadingAge, AHCA, AMDA, and many others, has hosted an annual summit to discuss the information technology (IT) issues long term care and post acute care providers face. The group, known as the Long Term and Post Acute Care (LTPAC) Collaborative, publishes a Road Map for LTPAC providers to... READ MORE
Tags: ahca, amda, bufford, care, costs, health it, Home Health, Hospice, IT, jent, leadingage, long term care, long-term, ltpac, quality, road map, selby
[07/09/12]
Posted on July 9, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report this morning detailing issues found in the use of antipsychotics in nursing facilities. Utilizing a sample of records from January through June of 2007, the OIG found over 99% of records reviewed failed to meet one or more Federal requirements. READ MORE
Tags: abuse, antipsychotic, assessment, bufford, care, care plan, cms, federal, jent, long term care, medicaid, Medicare, nf, noncompliance, nursing home, oig, reduce, regulation, reimbursement, report, resident, selby, skilled nursing facility, snf
[07/06/12]
Posted on July 6, 2012 in Long-Term Care, Home Health & Hospice
Written by: Bufford, David W.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) just released the 2012 Nursing Home Action Plan; a guide for CMS’ efforts to continue to improve nursing home safety and quality. The plan features 5 actionable strategies, including: enhance consumer engagement; strengthen survey processes, standards, and enforcement; promote quality improvement; create strategic approaches through partnerships; and... READ MORE
Tags: 2012 lsc, ACA, action plan, antipsychotic, assessment, bufford, cmp, cms, congress, consumer, feeding tube, hha, Home Health, idr, improvement, jent, long term care, lsc, medicaid, Medicare, nf, nursing home, nursing home compare, oig, qapi, quality, regulation, selby, skilled nursing facility, snf, survey, tags
